How to Research Enemies in Bioshock

While it is true that a shot from the Grenade Launcher will take down most anything short of a Big Daddy in a single shot, there is something you can do to get a bit more bang for your buck: Research! If you played System Shock 2, this feature will be familiar to you. By using the camera to take pictures of your enemies, you gain special abilities and perks. Here’s how it works.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Get the camera. The first one you find will actually be a part of a quest you pick up in Fontaine Fisheries, but there are others. Remember to keep it stocked with film. You can hold up to 100 pictures before you need to refill on film, but don’t worry, there are film canisters and extra cameras scattered throughout Rapture. You can also buy film from the Circus of Values.
2. Take pictures of your foes! As you take more pictures of your enemies, you learn how to combat them more effectively. Remember to try and photograph them before you kill them.
3. Photograph corpses. While you may not get as many points for snapping them, photographing a corpse is still an option if you forgot to take a picture of them before you wasted them.
4. Keep taking pictures until the red Research bar goes all the way to the right. You’ll know you advanced a research level when you get a special tone after you take a picture. That, and you’ll get a notice about which bonus you received. Research bonuses include: new tonics, damage bonuses to certain enemies and EVE bonuses.
5. Use the Photographer’s Eye tonics. These will make it easier for you to research enemies, meaning that you have to take fewer pictures to get the bonuses.
6. Continue snapping pics of a specific enemy until you get a notice that you have maxed out your research for that enemy. You can only learn so much from pictures of Thuggish Splicers, and there will come a point when you cannot learn anything else by taking pictures of them. Don’t worry, you won’t waste film doing it on accident.
7. Max out all your enemy research for several Achievements!

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to photograph turrets and security cameras. Those can be researched too!